BXBX NOVEL Chapter 67 - 67- Paradigms
The Great Hall was eerily silent. The mimic walked straight into the assembly where the deities waited from him, silently furious about what had happened. Their stares pierce right through him as he walked past them.
132-X remembered the feeling very well. It was like a dog running back home with its tail stuck between its legs. This time, it was just him and his wounded pride.
Gone were the cheers and fancy chanting. There were no golden petals raining down on him. It was all nothing but dim lighting and pure silence. He felt the pressure weighing him down. His heartbeat was louder than his footsteps.
At the end of his long walk, in the middle of the hall was a podium towering him. The High Chancellor stood on the podium looking down on him like an ant ready to be stomped by a boot. The mimic stopped in front of the podium, his head down looking at the pearly floor.
132-X and Oyue stood by the shadows underneath one of the marbled pillars of the hall. They were both silent as they waited for things to unravel.
"Look up here, Arellin!" The High Chancellor\'s voice boomed.
The mimic hesitantly looked up and saw the High Chancellor\'s enraged glowing eyes. 132-X could feel the mimic\'s shudder, the sensation came back to him in a flash. It was an uneasy feeling, he remembered how his body quivered right down to the bone.
During that time, he still wasn\'t powerful enough to fight them or at the very least argue with them. He was weak and clueless. Too clueless for his own good.
"ANSWER ME, ARELLIN!" the High Chancellor pointed at the mimic. "WHY HAVE YOU DIED?"
The mimic averted his gaze. The tension was palpable at that point. 132-X knew fully well what happened next.
"I COMMAND YOU TO ANSWER!!!" the High Chancellor raised his finger and made the mimic rise from the ground. "TELL US NOW, CHILD OR THIS MIGHT BE YOUR LAST!" His voice rumbled like a violent storm.
"My Lord!" A voice from the other end of the hall broke through the tense situation. Andalos came rushing to the podium.
"What is it, Lord Andalos?" The High Chancellor cleared his throat trying not to lash out on his fellow deity.
"My Lords and Ladies!" Lord Andalos spoke. "Our hero right here, doesn\'t deserve this type of treatment! Lord High Chancellor, I beg you not to intimidate this poor mortal!"
The god\'s plea caused a stir within the assembly. Gods and goddesses whispered among each other. Their audible buzzing irritated the High Chancellor who reprimanded the deities for their behavior. After the assembly went back to order, he diverted his attention to Lord Andalos and asked him to explain.
"Our Chosen One is still new to this," Lord Andalos began, "We need to give him—"
"New?!" A voice echoed from the bleachers of the assembly. "He had lived for 3 lifetimes already! I am quite sure he would be well acquainted with this!"
"Lord High Chancellor!" Lord Maaderaam interjected. "We set the bar too high for such an incompetent like him. I told not to raise the difficulty of his mission!"
The war god\'s words stung him before, and it still did now, even just by listening on the sidelines, 132-X cannot help himself. He wanted to punch the cocky god\'s face. Maybe he should\'ve done that during his escape but then again, he didn\'t.
"Higher difficulty or not, we should still not treat him like this!" Lord Andalos defended, "It was a mistake!"
"That\'s the problem, Lord Andalos he committed a mistake!" Lord Maaderaam pointed out. "That world was filled with untap potential. If it weren\'t for him, we could\'ve con—"
The High Chancellor smashed his hand to the podium blasting the hall with a loud-sounding thud. Lord Maadeream quickly realized he went too far with what he was about to say and silenced himself in his seat.
132-X noticed that too. "What was he about to say?"
He looked at Oyue hoping to get some answers. But the goddess only shrugged her shoulders in response and went back to viewing the entire scene unfolding.
The High Chancellor cleared his throat, "Lords and Ladies, t looks like our excessive passion may have been too much for our Chosen One to handle."
The powerful god clapped his hands to make the podium disappear. The High Chancellor descended right next to Lord Andalos and 132-X\'s mimic. He patted both of their shoulders before asking the question to the mimic once again.
"Tell me, Arellin Matrious," He said in his warmly calming voice. "How did you die?"
The mimic looked at both the gods beside him. Their eyes filled with questions needed to be answered.
"I-I died protecting…" He paused to ponder on the right words to say. "…protecting my party members. Was I wrong in doing it?"
His answer caused another stir within the assembly. The High Chancellor was quick to silence them.
"Lords and Ladies, our hero has asked us if saving his comrades was wrong?" The High Chancellor asked for an answer from the assembly.
The hall was silent. No one wanted to voice their answer until one goddess did for them.
"Hero Arellin," Indiria spoke. "Though, I commend you for saving the lives of your comrades. I want to condemn you for ending your life at such an abrupt time!"
132-X looked longingly at the love goddess from a distance. He stared at the beautiful goddess, delighted to hear her sweet gentle voice. Oyue slapped him on the back.
"Ow!" He reached out for his back as he winced in pain. "What did you do that for?!"
"Stop being enchanted by her voice!" Oyue answered. "Even through your memory, her power is still potent against you."
"Hero Arellin," She called him once again. "You must think for the good of all first, before the good of the few. You could\'ve saved that world, young hero but you chose to sacrifice yourself to the unworthy."
"Ahem," The High Chancellor patted the mimic\'s shoulder once more. "Lady Indiria said it all! Do not sacrifice your mission just for these sorts of…things."
"Lords and Ladies," The High Chancellor pushed his mimic slightly to the front. "Our Hero might have made the mistake, but we all know he won\'t do that again! Is that right, Arelling Matrious?"
His mimic nodded and declared, "My Lords and Ladies of the Greater Heaven! I apologize for my incompetence, I, Arellin Matrious will proved to you my worth! You can count on it!" He kneeled to the assembly and bowed his head.
Oyue snapped her finger and paused the scenario.
"What lesson have you learned there?" Oyue asked as she looked on to the scene.
"Lesson?" 132-X scratched his head. "The lesson was never to take their word for it. I knew too late about this. Now that I\'m looking at it this totally made sense!"
Oyue raised her eyebrow in response. She looked at him straight in the eyes and asked.
"If that was the lesson you learned from this," she sighed. "Why were you still playing dumb the entire time?"
She didn\'t get answer from him. 132-X stared at the distance, contemplating at all the actions he made up to that point.
Suddenly the hall grew darker, as if the light was snuff out of it. Another screeching sounds echoed around the halls and the still images became distorted and unrecognizable.
132-X looked around and saw a huge eye glaring at them from the ceiling. It quickly disintegrated before he could react to it.
"W-what was that?" He asked.
"That was a—" Oyue shuddered. "Someone called out my name. Hold on, let me answer her." She snapped her fingers, releasing a stream of bright light ascending to the heavens.
"Now, where were we?" Oyue tapped a finger on her chin as she tried to recall their conversation. "Oh, yes! That was an Obscuros trying to devour you."
"W-what?! G-get me out of here, I need to help them, now!" He demanded.
"I will, but I want to speak with you about some matters." She shifted her voice into a serious tone. "I know you hate gods and goddesses alike. But right now, you\'re powerless and even if you go back to the real world, you still won\'t be able to beat them."
132-X wanted to insist, "I-I will try to—"
"Find a way. I know," she answered. "But that won\'t be enough. Both you and I know how you faired inside their lair, right? To think the ones attacking right now is just a speck compared to the monsters below the burrow."
Oyue held his hand and smile to him, "I know now why the deities of your old world chose you." She said.
"Is it because I\'m a child? Or because I\'m dum—wait?!" 132-X was surprised to hear his deep raspy voice. "Why am I big again?"
"Because I want to talk with you about some important things." She answered.
"You do know, there is no time for that!" He exclaimed. "My friends are in danger and I would like to help them."
The goddess nodded and smiled, "You might be childish and overbearing, but even then, you still have some good qualities. It\'s sad that these gods saw you as nothing more than just a tool."
"Get to the point, Oyue." He growled. "I will force myself out if you won\'t let me."
"Your arrogance would still be your downfall, Adlaw-on." She sighed.
132-X yanked his hand from her grip and proceeded to walk away.
"Tell me how to get out of here, goddess!" He demanded.
"I really hate that arrogance of yours," she calmly stated. "But I think we could work something out in the future."
Oyue snapped her fingers and a portal appeared just behind her.
Seeing this, 132-X walked towards the portal but was instantly pushed away by the goddess\' overpowering strength. He tumbled to the floor glaring at the goddess.
"I will let you pass on one condition," the goddess said.. "Make a deal with me."